Cattle Subsidies Must Go - MEPs

Den engelske dyreværnsorganisation Compassion in World Farming udsendte den 12. juli 2005 denne pressemeddelelse om arbejdet for at standse EU-støtten til og dermed også transport af levende kvæg fra EU til Mellemøsten. Læs:

Cattle Subsidies Must Go - MEPs

European Animal Welfare Groups hail landmark victory in new Parliament

The European Parliament has pledged its support for a proposal to end the payment of EU farm subsidies to export live cattle to the Middle East.

375 MEPs from across the EU have signed up to a Written Declaration calling for an immediate and permanent end to the system of export refunds, paid on live cattle exported from Europe, for slaughter in Lebanon and Egypt.

The controversial text is the first Declaration to win the support of the majority of MEPs since January 2004, and the first to include parliamentarians from the 10 new EU Member States. This success is likely to expand the current debate over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the effect these export subsidies have on trade access for developing countries.

The European Parliaments President, Josep Borrell, will now write to EU Agriculture Commissioner, Denmark's Mariann Fischer-Boel, and to the Governments of the 25 Member States, setting out the Parliaments position and demanding a response.

Compassion in World Farming has worked with its partners, the European Coalition for Farm Animals, to raise awareness of the declaration among MEPs. CIWF has established that nearly 200 000 live cattle are exported to the Middle East each year, with Germany, France, and the Republic of Ireland the biggest exporters. The trade this year is set to cost European tax payers €77 million in subsidies.

Neil Parish, Conservative MEP for the South West and one of the co-authors of the Declaration, said: "This system runs contrary to the agreed WTO framework to phase out export refunds, and to the revised CAP; having achieved the support of the majority of the Parliament, we will continue to pressure the Commission until this trade is brought to an end."

Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for the South East and another of the co-authors, said; "It is absolutely outrageous that taxpayers' money is being used to fund a cruel, long-distance trade in animals that causes such suffering, and I am delighted that sufficient Euro-MPs have backed CIWF's call to bring the practice to a swift end."

Barbara Dias Pais, CIWF European Communications Co-ordinator, adds "The adoption of the Written Declaration sends out a clear signal to the Commission; that the European public, and the MEPs who represent them, will not stand for public funds being spent on a trade which routinely inflicts great suffering on animals."

"The Commission knows that time and options are now running out" says Dias Pais. "We urge the Agriculture Commissioner and the UK EU Presidency to listen to the overwhelming opinion of Europe's elected representatives and move to bring an immediate, permanent and overdue end to this cruel and unnecessary trade."

In April Joanna Lumley actress and CIWF patron, launched CIWFs "Stop the Bull Ship" campaign in Brussels. MEPs were shown footage of a shipment of cattle from Ireland to Lebanon, featuring shocking scenes of the handling and slaughter of animals, which would be illegal if found within the European Union. However this trade only remains profitable for dealers because of subsidies funded by European Union taxpayers' money.

Her slutter Compassion in World Farmings pressemeddelelse.

Compassion in World Farming:

www.ciwf.org

1. november 2006. Aktive Dyrerettigheder

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